Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, affecting approximately one-percent of the population over the age of sixty. Although many animal models have been developed to study this disease, each model presents its own advantages and caveats. A unique new model has arisen to study the role of alpha-synuclein (aSyn) in the pathogenesis of PD. This model involves the conversion of recombinant monomeric aSyn protein to a fibrillar form-the aSyn pre-formed fibril (aSyn PFF)-which is then injected into the brain or introduced to the media in culture...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with complex etiology and variable pathology. While a subset of cases is associated with single-gene mutations, the majority originates from a combination of factors we do not fully understand. Thus, understanding the underlying causes of PD is indispensable for the development of novel therapeutics. Glycation, the non-enzymatic reaction between reactive dicarbonyls and amino groups, gives rise to a variety of different reaction products known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs)...

BACKGROUND: Medical comorbidities, including cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, influence disease progression in Parkinson disease (PD) and may be variably present in different clinical populations. OBJECTIVE/METHODS: We conducted a retrospective nested case-control study of 29 Veterans with PD and 29 non-Veteran PD controls. The groups were matched for age, gender, and disease duration. Both groups underwent clinical and imaging testing as part of their participation in a larger cross-sectional PD observational study at our research center...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an adult onset neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by selective degeneration of neurons primarily in the substantia nigra. At present, the pathogenesis of PD is incompletely understood and there are no neuroprotective treatments available. Accurate animal models of PD provide the opportunity to elucidate disease mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets. This review focuses on C. elegans models of PD, including both genetic and toxicant models. This microscopic worm offers several advantages for the study of PD including ease of genetic manipulation, ability to complete experiments rapidly, low cost, and ability to perform large scale screens for disease modifiers...

BACKGROUND: Urinary dysfunction is relatively common, however, is often underestimated and diagnosed by subjective questionnaires in patients with Parkinsonism. OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between subjective urinary dysfunction and post-void residual urine volume in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and to assess the relationship between clinical characteristics and subjective or objective urinary dysfunction...

BACKGROUND: Parkinsonian patients in advanced stages of disease suffer from many motor and non-motor symptoms, whose responsiveness to dopamine replacement therapy and deep brain stimulation is poor. It is necessary to find complementary strategies in order to improve the clinical conditions of patients in advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) stages. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to understand whether an inpatient, motor-cognitive, multidisciplinary, aerobic, intensive and goal-based rehabilitation treatment (MIRT), specifically designed for PD, is effective for patients in advanced stages of disease...

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the leucine rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene are among the most common genetic causes of Lewy body Parkinson's disease (PD). However, LRRK2 mutations can also lead to a variety of pathological phenotypes other than typical PD, including relatively pure nigrostriatal cell loss without alpha-synuclein-positive Lewy bodies or Lewy neurites, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and multiple system atrophy (MSA). The mechanisms behind this remarkable pleomorphic pathology are currently unclear...

Although yet poorly defined and often misused, the concept of functional mobility has been used in research studies as a more global and ecological outcome of patients' health status. Functional mobility is a person's physiological ability to move independently and safely in a variety of environments in order to accomplish functional activities or tasks and to participate in the activities of daily living, at home, work and in the community. Parkinson's disease (PD) has a direct impact on patients' motor control and on mobility in general...

We compared phenotypic characteristics in 35 Greek patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), carriers of GBA1 mutations (GBA-PD), with 35 Genetically Unidentified PD patients (GU-PD). We found a previously reported higher prevalence of cognitive impairment and a little appreciated more frequent bilateral onset of the disease in GBA-PD vs GU-PD. As far as the exposure to environmental factors, linked to PD, is concerned, our study hints to the possibility that pesticide exposure may be more common in GBA-PD patients, and possibly act synergistically with the mutation carrier status to trigger the disease...

BACKGROUND: Many optical coherence tomography (OCT) studies have reported alterations in the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. However, whether retinal alterations are a biomarker for PD is still controversial. OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential correlations between PD and morphological changes in retina using OCT and to determine its usefulness as a biomarker of disease progression in PD. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study on patients with PD (N = 37) and age-matched controls (N = 42), followed by a longitudinal study of the PD patients (N = 22) over approximately 2...

BACKGROUND: It is unclear to which degree Levodopa (L-dopa) remains effective also in the late stage of Parkinson's disease (PD) and to which degree motor fluctuations and dyskinesias remain a problem. OBJECTIVE: To assess responsiveness of motor symptomatology to L-dopa in a group of patients with late stage PD. Moreover, to investigate the extent to which motor fluctuations and dyskinesias occur. METHODS: Thirty PD patients in Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stages IV and V in "on" were included...

BACKGROUND: With recent advances in the search for disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson's disease (PD) the importance of identifying prodromal markers becomes greater. Non-manifesting LRRK2 mutation carriers (NMC) are at risk for developing PD, and provide a population in which to identify possible markers. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that NMC have differences in daily activity, fragmentation of sleep, arm swing asymmetry, and movement variability during walking, detectable by actigraphy, as compared to matched control subjects...

Genome-wide association studies of Parkinson's disease have revealed polymorphic variants associated with closely mapped genes of interest. We propose here that those genes may only represent the tip of an iceberg of regulatory effects and do not necessary reflect disease relevance. To usefully interpret a risk locus, one needs to consider 5 dimensions of information, which represent the three-dimensional structure of chromatin (dimensions #1- 3), which is locally variable across time (dimension #4), and, most importantly, dependent on cell type and context (dimension #5)...

The scientific evidence to support the value of a range of non-pharmacological interventions for people with Parkinson's disease (PD) is increasing. However, showing unequivocally that specific interventions are better than usual care is not straightforward because of generic drawbacks of clinical trials. Here, we address these challenges, specifically related to the context of evaluating complex non-pharmacological interventions for people with PD. Moreover, we discuss the potential merits of undertaking "real world" analyses using medical claims data...

Despite recent successes in understanding the genetics of Parkinson's disease (PD), the causes of late-onset sporadic PD remain elusive. Many of the epidemiologic findings on PD etiology have been challenged by alternative explanations such as reverse causation. This is mainly because PD often takes decades to develop before it can be diagnosed late in life. Convincing evidence shows that this prodromal stage of PD is characterized by various prodromal symptoms such as olfactory impairment and rapid-eye-movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD)...

This study investigated whether patients with newly diagnosed Parkinson's disease (PD) without previous exposure to antiparkinsonian drugs have higher prevalence of polyneuropathy than the general population. Using the UK General Practice Research Database, presence of polyneuropathy in the previous 3 years was assessed. Of 5089 PD patients and 19,897 controls, polyneuropathy was confirmed in 15 PD patients (0.29%) and 24 controls (0.12%). Polyneuropathy prevalence was 2.4-fold higher in PD patients than controls...

BACKGROUND: Recent genetic and epidemiological studies have shown that there is a link between essential tremor and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there is a lack of data about the clinical features of PD developed from essential tremor. OBJECTIVE: To explore and describe the clinical characteristics of Parkinson's disease developed from essential tremor (ET-PD). METHODS: Twenty-five ET-PD patients and 124 IPD controls were enrolled according to each criterion...

BACKGROUND: PSP, like Alzheimer's disease (AD), is a tauopathy. The etiopathogenesis of PSP is not well known and the role of stress has not yet been examined. Recent studies have shown that stress increases the risk for developing AD. This study investigates the role of stress as a risk factor for PSP. OBJECTIVE: B To examine the association between the development of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and self-reported life stressors. METHODS: 76 patients diagnosed with PSP according to the NINDS-SPSP criteria and 68 age-matched unrelated controls were administered a life stressor questionnaire...